Is Salvation caused by works?

De Maria | 12/06/2015

A long time ago, a Protestant asked me, “Does the Catholic Church teach that works cause salvation?”

I answered:

No. The causes of salvation are explained in the Council of Trent (Session VI, chapter 7) and boil down to the Mercy of God. I'll quote the pertinent portion below: The causes of this justification are:

the final cause is the glory of God and of Christ and life everlasting;

the efficient cause is the merciful God who washes and sanctifies gratuitously, signing and anointing with the holy Spirit of promise, who is the pledge of our inheritance,

the meritorious cause is His most beloved only begotten, our Lord Jesus Christ, who, when we were enemies, for the exceeding charity wherewith he loved us,[34] merited for us justification by His most holy passion on the wood of the cross and made satisfaction for us to God the Father,

the instrumental cause is the sacrament of baptism, which is the sacrament of faith, without which no man was ever justified finally, (Note: Remember, Baptism is the work of God to which we submit. It is not our work.)

the single formal cause is the justice of God, not that by which He Himself is just, but that by which He makes us just, that, namely, with which we being endowed by Him, are renewed in the spirit of our mind, (EWTN)

In other words, God is the cause of our salvation. No one and nothing else.

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About the Author

De Maria

website

My name is not, De Maria. But De Maria is who I am. About 30 years ago, the internet was new. And many of us, including my wife and I, considered it the Beast of Revelations. Therefore, we stayed off of it. But, one day, after experiencing a very powerful conversion back to the Catholic Church and the Spirit, being strong within me, made me yearn to teach the Faith. Little did I know, how little I knew about the Faith I practiced.

Becoming a Catechism teacher took me back to the days when I was young and hungry for knowledge. But in those days, no one wanted to be bothered answering my questions. And I believe that is one of the reasons why I fell away. No one could explain the Faith to me in a manner that was satisfactory. I didn't want to be that type of Catechist. I wanted to understand so that I could pass on my understanding. But it soon became obvious to me, that I didn't understand very much at all.

Then, one day, someone said, "why don't you ask for explanations on the Internet? There are lots of knowledgeable people there." So, I investigated. And, thanks be to God, I found a now defunct website for Catechists. I learned so much from them. I can't ever repay them.

But, back to my pen name, De Maria. Back then, most of us distrusted the Internet. And this forum for Catechists did not permit us to use our real names. They required pen names. So, since I love Our Lady, I took her name. (I am a guy, by the way.) In the grand tradition of male Saints who have adopted Our Lady's name, for instance, St. Louis "Marie" de Montfort and St. Alphonsus "Marie" de Liquori. And that's who I am. I believe that I belong to Mary and that I am sent by her to preach about her Son.

Besides this website, I have two more. Washed, justified and sanctified in the Sacraments of the Catholic Church and CatholicBibleTalk.